Police fear for safety of Moran

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Alleged crime patriarch Lewis Moran could be at risk of becoming a victim in Melbourne's spate of underworld violence, the chief investigator of the killings warned yesterday.

Detective Senior Sergeant Philip Swindells said Moran, 58, father of murdered crime figure Jason Moran, might have been made vulnerable by a court-imposed curfew.

In July, Lewis Moran was granted bail with a $1 million surety on charges of trafficking commercial quantities of drugs.

His bail conditions included a nightly curfew. Moran technically sought to have this revoked yesterday in the Melbourne Magistrates Court. The application was refused.

Senior Sergeant Swindells, head of the Purana taskforce which is investigating Melbourne's underworld-related killings, said that, based on intelligence reports, police believed "Mr Moran and others may be potential victims of threats of violence".

Senior Sergeant Swindells said Moran's "vulnerability relates to a perception by the taskforce that if the curfew remains between 8pm and 8am... it is possible for any person to be lying in wait for Mr Moran to return to his home address".

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He said Moran was regarded as being at higher risk than others because of the curfew, but that there was no direct evidence of the potential threats.

The court heard the application to vary Moran's bail was instigated by concerns expressed by police and not by Moran himself.

Asked whether he could provide more police intelligence details - in a closed court if necessary - Senior Sergeant Swindells said he would have to seek legal advice. But magistrate Lisa Hannan ruled that, while the risks might be real in the minds of the police, the court could not accept them without details.

Refusing the application, she said that "the information provided to this court is vague in nature and non-specific". She said that if Moran "is persuaded the risks are real, he has the opportunity of seeking the revocation of his bail".

Moran, of Essendon, is accused of taking part in $10 million drug deals over four years with seven alleged co-offenders. He faces 17 charges.

During his bail application in July, Ms Hannan ruled there was no evidence to support a homicide squad detective's claim that police feared Moran would organise someone to track down his son's killer.

Jason Moran and Pasquale Barbaro were shot dead on June 21 outside an Essendon North hotel in front of five children, including Moran's twins.

Lewis Moran's stepson, Mark Moran, was shot dead outside his Essendon home in June 2000.